UAH officers terminated following October traffic stop

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Three UAH police officers are off the job following a traffic stop that sparked national attention.

The UAH police chief, a captain and an officer were all fired from the university following an October traffic stop with an 18-year old Hazel Green High School student.

“As a mom who got to see what bullying looks like behind a badge, I feel like we had won a small victory,” said Chanda Crutcher, the mother of the 18-year-old.

She is feeling relieved and hopeful but said there is still plenty of work that needs to be done. “Interventions, conversations, collaborations that need to take place to make sure that we continue to make our city and our community a safe place for all.”

In October, her 18-year-old son was pulled over by a UAH police officer on his way home from his part-time job for a cracked but functioning tail light. Crutcher said the officer made the teen, who is an honor roll student and star athlete, get out of his car and questioned him if he had drugs or a dead prostitute in the vehicle.

“Human decency is not partisan. Human decency is not subjective. Human decency is human decency.”

The Crutcher family was notified Tuesday, university officials terminated the three officers. UAH will now begin a nationwide search for a new chief of police. Crutcher said her family will not take part in the hiring process.

The college actually selected UAH students, faculty and staff to serve on a newly created Police Advisory Council to give the UAH community a stronger voice on police issues and campus safety.

Crutcher applauds the university’s efforts and prays for continued conversations. “I hope Caleb’s moment and the other moments we are seeing across the nation right now make us better. Lets be better, lets just be better.”

Our request to sit down with the university’s president was denied.

We have also formally requested the police body camera footage from the night of the traffic stop. The two other times we have requested the police footage were denied by university officials.

Copyright 2021 WAFF. All rights reserved.